1. Field
Embodiments relate to a method, apparatus, and medium for providing skin care information, and more particularly, to a method, apparatus, and medium for providing skin care information, which can provide a user with more accurate skin care information via skin moisture content excluding a sweat gland activity by measuring an activity of a sweat gland corresponding to a sweat path when measuring the skin moisture content in a stratum corneum, and thereby estimating stress or an effect when the sweat gland activity affects the skin moisture content, and calculating the skin moisture content.
2. Description of the Related Art
As many people become interested in beauty, an interest in skin care has also increased. A desire for a healthy skin affects not only beauty-related businesses, but also affects the growth of medical-related businesses since people need to protect their skin from ultraviolet rays that have become stronger due to the destruction of the ozone layer, and various types of pollutions.
Skin is an organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial tissues. Main functions of skin are protecting against pathogens, waterproofing, temperature regulation, insulation, and the like. One of the most critical elements to enable the proper performance of the functions of skin is moisture content in a stratum corneum. The moisture content in the stratum corneum is generally called a skin moisture content. When maintaining a particular moisture content in the stratum corneum, it is possible to perform basic functions of skin such as protecting against harmful substances like pathogens, and preventing excessive evaporation of skin moisture. In view of skin care, the skin moisture content is also considered as an essential element. Accordingly, fundamental to skin care is skin moisture management.
According to a conventional art, an electrical measurement method, an optical measurement method, and a method using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are included in a method of measuring skin moisture content. The electrical measurement method is widely used. More specifically, a method of measuring the skin moisture content by measuring susceptance, i.e. an alternating current (AC) component of admittance, of three electrodes using a sinusoidal wave of low frequency is generally used.
Although each skin portion has a different density, a sweat gland corresponding to a sweat path exists in the stratum corneum. Since the sweat gland contains a great amount of moisture, the sweat gland may affect the measurement of the skin moisture content. Thus, an apparatus for providing skin care information, which can reduce an effect of a sweat gland wherever skin moisture content is measured and which can accurately measure skin moisture content in only a stratum corneum when measuring the skin moisture content to provide a user with the user's skin state, is required.